Process for preparing acyclic hydrazinium salts



United States Patent 1 "1 'ce 3,164,635 ERGCESS FOR PREPARING ACYCLIC HYDRAZINIUM SALTS George L. Braude, Linthiculn, Md, assignor to W. Grace-8c (10., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Connecticut No Drawing. Filed Nov. 6, I961, Ser. No. 150,205

l 8 Claims. or. 260583) g r This invention relates to quaternary nitrogenous salts. More, particularly, it relates to an improved process for making quaternized derivatives of substituted hydrazines, specifically acyclic, fatty hydraziniumchlorides;

1 A second method of'preparing the compounds described andtertiary amine in the presence of excess ammoma.

This direct reaction will, hereinafter be referred to as Heretofore, quaternary hydrazinium salts have been ob-.

tained only on a laboratory scale. They have usually been prepared? by the reaction ,of lgl-disubstituted hydrazine with alkylating agents such as methylchloride. Because of the extreme difhc'ulties involved in preparing the'tpa'rent hydrazines andthe limitations of the final alkylation (see 0. Westphal, Berichte der Deutehen Chemischen Gesellschaft, Vol.74, page 759 et. seq, and pages. 1365 etseq, 1941) the} uses of hydrazinium chlorides have not been completely explored; Their various uses inc1udecommercial application as bacteriocides, deter gents,- polymerization. initiators, antihistaminics, antispasmodics, and as intermediates for preparing a wide rangeofchemicals. V

It has recently been discovered that chloramine will react. with tertiaryamines to form tri-substituted hydra-' zinium chlorides '(Omietanski US. Patent 2,955,108). This, new reaction: presents, practically "limitless" possibilities for the preparation of novel and interesting chem "ical compounds which, because of their structure and inhere'ntjphysicalproperties, have a wide range of uses.

Tertiary amines are readily available bases. .Chloramine is..antexcellentreagent since it can be economically obtained in commercial quantities by Lusingthe wellknown process of Sisler etal. (described in U.S. Patent' 2,710,248) where chlorine and ammonia are reacted in the vaporphase to produce chlorarnine (monochloramine) problem in recovering the hydraziniurn chloride free from 7 3,164,635 Patented Jan. 5, 1965 vent under controlled conditions of mixing at low temperatures. Such afprocedure is fully described in US. Patent No. 2,678,258to John F. Haller. Another effective procedure is that of Coleman. et al., fully described in Inorganic Syntheses, vol. 1, page 59, 19-39.

in .the Rudner patent is fully described in an application of Rudner, Serial No. 605,230 (filed August 20, 1956, mentioned in the Rudner patent and now abandoned) which teaches the, direct reaction of. chlorine, ammonia the one-step.method. ,In both ofthe methods described above for preparing the new compounds shown in US. Patent 2,929,847 there is generally a serious ammonium chloride whichis produced as a by-product of the reaction. As shown by the examples in the Rudner patent, complicated and cumbersome techniques are necessary for obtaining the desired separation of the two reaction products. Furthermore, the separated solutions or dispersions of hydrazinium chloride recovered in Rudners process have very. short storage life and i hence further processing is ordinarily necessary for putus. Patent 2,929,847 discloses the' use' ofithe,tertiary" amine-chloramine"reaction: toprepare 'asspecific, class of hydrazinium chlorides having the general formula:

where-R is an aliphatic hydrocarbon residue having from 16-24 carbon atoms and preferably is an alkyl, alke'nyL'or alkadienyl radical having from 16 to 24 carbon atomsand wherein R" and R aremembers selectedifrom the group consisting of alkyl radicals having late 24 carbon atoms, alkenyl radicals having from 2 to 24'carbon atoms, and alkadienyl radicals having from 4 to 24 carbon atoms. These compoundsare shown 2 to have excellent and completely unexpected utility. as

softening agents in the textile industry.

The compounds shown 2,929,847 can be prepared by one oftwo methods. In

the" first method pro-formed cloramine (NH CD' is contacted with a solution of thejselected tertiary amine,

the reaction is permitted to pr'ci'ceedZilhtil the desired quantity of chloramine is consumed and the resultant hgldr'az inium chlorideis separated andjpurified. R\1d' ner; discloses that while chloramine is most advantageously prepared in the form of jaigase'ouschloramineammonia-nitrogen stream 1obtained from a generator "constructed, accordingto theteachings of Sisler et .a'L,

other methods are equally adaptable. For instance, chloramine can be made by reacting chlorine with an chlorides having the general Formula II, above, bya

in Rudner Llatent tingthe hydrazinimn .salts into a form suitable for use in their intendedapplication.

It is an object of this invention to provide a process for preparing hydrazinium chlorides of the formula:

a R ris an aliphatichydrocarbon radical containing from 8 to 20 carbon, atoms, inclusive, and preferably is an alkyl, alkenyl or 'alkadienyl radical containing from 16 to 20 carbon atoms, inclusive; and R andR are aliphatic hydrocarbon radicals containing from 1. to 20 carbon atoms, inclusive, preferably alkyl radicals containing from 1- to 20 carbon atoms','alk enyl"radicals containing from 2 to 20 carbon atoms or 'alkadienyl radicals containing from 4 to 20 carbon atoms; by chloram-' ination of tertiaryamines wherein a rapid and substantially complete. separation of ammonium chloride can be made. It is another objectof this invention to provide a process for the preparation ofhydrazinium chloramination'of tertiary amines wherein a rapid and Substantially complete separation of ammonium chloride can fbe made and where'jthe' hydrazinium chloride is simultaneously,recovered in a storage-stable form useful as a textile softener without any further processing.

where R R and R5 are the same as previously definedexcess of ammoniain a halogenated hydrocarbon solnixture is permitted to 'form" into two Further objects of this, invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of the more detailed description which follows.

In accordance with the present invention, a tertiary amine ofthe formula: l

(HI) in V Iii-I l a t. r

L. chloride. costly and time con process arefully described in, e.g., Omietanslris Patent 2,955,108 andRudners U.S. Patent 2,929,847

above cited. The one step process, wherein chlora mine-is generated in situis'fully described in Rudners U.S. application serial No. 605,230 also cited above.

Since these teachings are readily available, no further discussion of reaction temperature, time, pressures, re-

actant ratios, etc. need be repeated herein. Instead it will be deemed that the disclosures of the. above cited patentsand applicationare incorporated herein by reference thereto. w

In the process of this, invention, the reaction medium lower alkanol, so that the upper layer generally consists. of an aqueous-alcoholic solution of hydrazinium chloride, sometimes containing small portions of dispersed hydrazinium chloride. The hydrazinium chloride solution contains essentially no ammonium chloride; The hydrazinium chloride solution recovered is directly suitable for use as atextile softener, no further concen- 1 tration or purification being required. When cooled and/orstored under ordinary conditions, the hydrazinused in conducting thelreactions :taught by the above prior art must be a lower alkanol. The term-flower al-' kanol is used herein. to mean a monohydric saturated aliphatic alcohol'containing. from 1 to about 4 carbon atoms. Such alkanols are conveniently represented by the formula R OH where R; is a straight or branched chainialkyl group containing from 1 to 4 carbon atoms. Specific lower alkanols suitable .for the process of this invention are methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, normal propyl alcohol,-isopropyl alcohol, normal butyl alcohol,

isobutyl alcohol, or secondary butyl alcohol and mixtures thereof..-' For best reaction efficiency and econonly; and for optimum. ease in recovery, -the medium used should. be isopropanoL.

Examplesfof tertiary amines included within the scope of Formulalil above which are suitable for use in the iurn product sometimes forms into a creamy paste. This product nevertheless is storage stable forlo'ng periods .of time (several months. or more). This is in sharp contrast with the productsof the prior processes which, unless specially processed, often settle into hard solid cakes after only several weeks of storage.

f The invention will be further illustrated by the following non-limiting specific examples.

' Example 1 A chloramine generator was constructed as described in Sisler et a1. Patent 2,710,248, and'a'stream of chloram-ine mixed with ammonia and nitrogen was prepared by feeding to the generator 0.3 mole per minute of ammonia, 0.016 mole per minute of chlorine and 0.015 mole per minute of nitrogen in the manner described I in the Sisleret a1. patent. A glass woolfilter was used to i remove ammonium chloride from the chloramine gas process Qfthisirivention are shown; by Rudner, U.S.

Patent 2,929,847, e.g., at col.-2,lines"1 to 45. Other suitable. amines are, dimethyldecyl, v dimethylundec'enyl,

butyldidode'cyl, tris=dodecyl-, dimethylhexadecyl, methylbutylhexadecyl, dibutylhexadecenyl, dimethyloctadecenyl, methyldioctadccenyl, .methyldioctadecadienyl, 'dimethyl- "eicosanyl, di-n-propyloctadec'yl, di-n-heptylhexadecyl, or

any other like tertiary amine. n ,7

The reaction of chloramine with theselected tertiary amine. is continued untilsubstantially --all (about95% ormore) ofthe amineisconverted to the corresponding 'hydrazinium chloride. -With the particular reaction.

medium used in my improved process, all tertiary amines within the-scope of general Formula II above are easily and, rapidly substantially completely reacted to form hydrazinium chloride. Thus no difliculty'is encountered in nieeting this requirement of my improved process."-

The ,lower alkanol medium used in my improved processdissolves all or a' majonportion (80 percent' by weight or rnore) of theftertiary amine reactant as well; as. the 'hydrazinium: chloride produced.- The reaction product liquid therefore comprises a'solution of hydrazinium chloride and-minor amounts of unreacted amine,

Lion-and in handling the separated solid ammonium The process of this invention eliminates these steps. f

stream. .Analysis of the filtered gas stream by iodometric titration showed that chloramine was beinggproduced and recovered at a rate of aboirtOil mole per' i'iiinute. I

A four-liter resin kettle equipped witha stirrer, reflux condenser'anda gas inlet tube was charged with 900 T In accordance with; the invention, water is added to the reaction product mass'in an amount at least sufti cient. -toiidissolve substantially alli of the ammonium chloridei The aspecific amount of-t water; that inusLbe added thus depends upon the amount I of ammonium chlorideb'y product. i The reaction product mass is 'agi tated-. (preferablyi stirring) as the water is added'to assure intimate admixture of the .water, therein.

After water has been added in the requisite amounts,

the mixture. is permitted 'to. remainquiescent untilyt wo separate and distinct phases are formed. The lower. .1

' phase consists of an aqueous solutio'ri -bf ammonium;

chloride; Theadded "waterfwill usuallydissolve some 7 -millilitersof technical grade (99% pure)v 'isopropyl alcohol and300 grams (about 0.53 moleyfoi' a commercially; availableamineknown as Armeen M 'HT. This amine is about 86% (R,,) NCH and 6 (R N,'where R is a hydrocarbon chain derived from hydrogenated 'tallow fattyacids and contains approximately 'oetadecyl residues and 30% hexadecyl residues. The kettle contents were warmed'bydmeans of..a 'heatingmantle to about 40 toj. centigrade at which temperaturesall the 1 amine was'dissolved inthe alcohol i The chloramine-ammonia-nitrogen 'gas' stream described above was then introduced into the amine solution until 2.00% of the amount theoretically required had been ab- 7 sorbed. 'Total'chlorine consumptionwas 104.5 grams.

The chloraminated reaction mixture was evaporated to /2itsinitialivolurne an equal volume of warm (about 70 Centigrade) water was added, with'mixing. When permitted to settle, the liquid separated into two sharp layers. The bottom layer was withdrawn and found to be an aqueous solution containing essentially all of the ammonium chloride lay-product of the chloramination reaction. Theupper' layer was an aqueous-alcoholic solution of *1,1bis-hydrotallow:1 methylhydrazinium chloride (consistingchiefly of 1-.methyl-1, l-dioctade'cylhdra- =zininm chloride) containing essentially no ammonium chloride. This'hydraziniuin chloride product was .useful as a textile softener without any need for further purification or other treatment. a

.A solution of 300 grains Armeen M HT. (described in V Examplel above.) 'in900. grams of technical gradeisopropyl alcohol wasreacted directly with a stream of chlo 'rine. gas surrounded by a concentric stream of gaseous ammonia in .ac'cordancewi'th the one-stepfchloraminationmethodsdescrib'edin Rudner, U.S. applicationSerial Nur'nber 605,230, .mentioned above. The reaction was conducted at temperatures :betweenabout 60 and 70 Centigrade andwas continued'until 1-12 gramsof chlorine (300% of thetheoretical:amount) had been introduced to the reaction vessel." Isopropyl alcoholwas added periodically during the course. of. the run to makeup for. losses dueto evaporation.

A fineistmam o W wa a ed to fibe reaction prod;

, without any further treatment.

uct mixture until clear separation into two layers had occurred after periodic mixing and settling. The lower layer, containing all of the ammonium chloride by-product of the reaction was withdrawn. The supernatent layer contained all of the hydrazinium chloride product, dissolved in a mixture of alcohol and water. On cooling, a white creamy paste formed, which showed no separation, crystallization, or sedimentation even after 3 or 4 months storage at ambient temperatures. Moreover, this paste was in a very desirable form for handling in textile plants and was directly suitable for use as a textile softener The process of this invention is suitable for the preparation of hydrazinium chlorides from any tertiary amine having the formula:

ther concentration orcrystallization. Furthermore, these products are storage stable for relatively very long periods I of time.

What is claimed is:

1. In the process for preparing hydrazinium chlorides of the formula R2 7 R1-I lNI-Iz C1 1'1. wherein R is an aliphatic hydrocarbon residue having from 8 to 20 carbon atoms and selected from the group consisting of alkyl, alkenyl, and alkadienyl radicals, and R and R are members selected from the group consisting of alkyl radicals having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, alkenyl radicals having from 2 to 20 carbon atoms, and alkadienyl radicals having from 4 to 20 carbon atoms, by reacting chloraminewitha tertiary amine of the formula wherein R R and R are defined above, conducting said reaction in a reaction medium consisting of a lower alkanol, the improvement which comprises agitating the reaction product liquor while adding sufficient amounts of water thereto to dissolve the ammonium chloride con tained therein, ceasing agitation and maintaining the mixture thereby produced quiescent until two liquid phases are formed, and separating the two phases.

2. Process as defined in claim 1 wherein said lower alkanol is a member of the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, sec butanol and mixtures thereof.

' 3. Process as defined in claim 1 wherein said lower alkanol is isopropanol.

'4. Process as defined in claim 2 wherein said tertiary amine is methyldioctadecyl amine.

5. Process for separating ammonium chloride from a mixture containing a lower alkanol, ammonium chloride and a hydrazinium chloride of the formula wherein R is an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical containing from 8 to 20 carbon atoms and selected from the group consisting of 'alkylfalkenyl, and alkadienyl radicals, and

' R and R are members of the group consisting of alkyl radicals containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, alkenyl radicals containing fromZ to 20 carbon atoms and alkadienyl radicals containing from 4 to 20 carbon atoms;

which comprises agitating said mixture, adding water to said agitated mixture in an amount sufiicient to dissolve substantially all of the ammonium chloride, discontinuing said agitation, maintaining the water-alkanol mixture thereby'produced quiescent until two liquid phases are formed, and separating the ammonium chloride-containing aqueous phase.

6. Process as defined in claim 5 wherein said lower alkanol is a member of the group consisting of methanol,

ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, isobutanol,

sec.-butanol and mixtures thereof.

7. Process as defined in claim 5 wherein said lower alkanol is isopropanol.

8. Process as definedin claim 5 Wherein' said lower.

CHARLES, B. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

L. ZITVER, Examiner. 

1. IN THE PROCESS FOR PREPARING HYDRAZINIUM CHLORIDE OF THE FORMULA 